Moto Z DROID and Moto Z Force DROID reviews will be a long shortly, as you probably guessed, but in the mean time, we’re still doing what we can to share all that these two phones have to offer. That means running through unboxing videos, doing software tours, and showing you how the Moto Mods system works. It also means taking a look at camera capabilities, which we are about to do here.
While we aren’t ready to give final scores to each phone’s camera, we did want to at least share a bunch of initial shots taken with each to show you what to expect when these phones are available for purchase. Our review units, as far as we know, are running software that you will see should you buy either and so these images do give a good representation of each phone’s camera.
UPDATE: Final reviews are out, which means final thoughts. Read the Moto Z review here. Read the Moto Z Force review here.
Let’s take a look.
Note: Kellen handled the Moto Z for this post, while I took care of the Moto Z Force.
Moto Z DROID
On the regular Moto Z DROID, you are looking at a phone with a 13MP camera (1.12um pixels), f/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilization (OIS), laser autofocus, and supposed zero shutter lag. The camera is capable of taking pictures in both auto and “Professional” or manual modes, is launched like other Moto phones via wrist-twisting gesture, has burst and night modes, and can record both 4K and slow-motion video. In terms of a modern smartphone, it certainly has it all on paper, outside of the larger micron pixels we are seeing on cameras included in last year’s Nexus phones the the Galaxy S7 line.
During my initial tests, I’ve found the camera to be a bit of a mixed bag. At times it’s quick, focuses and takes the shot I want. During others, especially when HDR kicks in, I find myself wondering what’s taking so long.
In the end, Motorola is calling the cameras in the new Moto Z line their most advanced yet, so it should be fun over the coming days to decide if they are or not. But maybe more importantly, we get to decide if they are good enough to compete with the amazing cameras being used by almost everyone else in the industry these days.
Here are a handful of Moto Z DROID camera samples.
Well Lit vs. Dimly Lit
Full resolution images can be found in this .zip file.
Moto Z Force DROID
On paper, the Moto Z and Moto Z Force are almost the same phone, but one area they do differ somewhat greatly (in terms of specs, at least) is the camera. On the Moto Z Force and Z Force DROID, the camera is a 21-megapixel shooter with ƒ/1.8 aperture, as well as added phase detect and laser auto-focus. On the Moto Z, it’s a 13-megapixel camera with ƒ/1.8 aperture and laser auto-focus. To the average consumer, this difference will probably only result in larger image files from the 21-megapixel camera, but it also allows a bit more control over which aspect ratio and image size you shoot with on the device. With the majority of photos being taken on smartphones going straight to Instagram, aspect ratio is not something anyone seems concerned about, though.
During my time with the Moto Z Force DROID, I have found the camera to do pretty well in daylight settings, but once that sun begins to set, you are in trouble. With decent lighting on your subject, details come through rather well (check out the doggies and Android mini figure), but if you don’t have that good light source, photos begin to look blurred and noisy.
Additionally, reminding me of the original Moto X, it seems that owners should always use the camera’s built-in HDR mode to crutch the device’s poor low-light abilities. While some photos will come out overly saturated, I find that more times than not, the pictures look good enough to share on social media. The true downside to always using HDR is the wait time, as the camera then takes it time to focus and take the shots required to process a photo in HDR.
We will have plenty more to say when our final reviews are available, but for now, we’ll let the photos do the talking.
Well Lit vs. Dimly Lit
HDR On vs. HDR Off
Full resolution images can be found in this .zip file.
Not terrible but hey, it’s a Moto device. Love your dogs Tim!
Please don’t turn into another politically oriented tech site that everyone else has become. I always enjoyed coming here because you guys stayed out of the muck but your last couple podcasts seem to be veering off course. Your subliminal picture isn’t fooling anyone Tim.
Where that burger from?
Me now hungry for cheez burgra!
Me now hungry for cheez burgra!
Not to bad for a Motorola, looks to be the best camera by Moto so far.
Them burgers, though.
Looks fine to me, but phone cameras are at the bottom of my priority list. Almost any phone in the last couple years has been more than sufficient for my use.
Any reason why they couldnt have just released 1 phone? Moto Z Force with the 13mp shooter? The more desirable phone gets the mediocre camera. Good job moto.
It’s probably safe to say the Z Force is Verizon’s true Droid device (successor to the Turbo 2), hence why it’ll be exclusive to them in the US. The Moto Z just has the Droid branding slapped on.
IIRC they technically will, since the Force will not be available outside of Verizon. The regular Moto Z is the one that will be coming unlocked, so basically the Z Force is Verizon’s new DROID exclusive phone. However, I’m not sure if that’s correct, as there was some confusion about this at the announcement event.
Even worse. Slapping a mediocre sensor the company flagship. Somebody didnt think this through.
Not bad, but seems to have the typical Motorola trait of loss of detail in the shadow areas, where trees and bushes turn into dark mush.
<<o. ✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤:::::::!ja319s:….,….,..
What a terrible year to buy a new phone. After the S7, nothing is remotely appealing. LG, HTC and Moto are just boring anymore.
Funny, I’d choose the HTC 10 over the S7 everytime.
funny, i wouldn’t, S7Edge ftw!
Ah, so you care more about gimmicks than anything else.
NO, i care about best screen, best camera, water resistance, great battery life and it feels small despite its size, that’s what a i care about, and battery life is great
Best camera is the HTC 10, battery life on Samsung phones is dismal compared to others. Screen may be good but OLED fades and burns in plus LCD is brighter. The curved screen is absolutely a gimmick as well.
LCD is not brighter…. search on droid-life when they compared screens. Not even close..
who cares what droid life says. hold them side by side and look with your own eyes. LCD is brighter and colors are more accurate.
Stop defending your precious HTC. There’s a reason the S7 pair is outselling the 10 by landslides, and that’s because they’re non-gimmicky, reliable and gorgeous smartphones. The 10 isn’t bad, but it’s merely good, while the S7 pair are amazing.
AMOLED no longer fades or burns in overtime, and the advantages of contrast and sunlight visbility are immense. It’s also now cheaper to produce; AMOLED is now the definitive smartphone display tech. http://www.phonearena.com/news/Outdoor-display-comparison-iPhone-6s-vs-S7-edge-vs-10-vs-G5_id81070
Battery life is not dismal; it’s top of the line. http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph10252/81289.png That’s the S820 S7 by the way, which is proven to be less efficient than the Exynos version, which I have, and would likely spank the HTC 10 in a battery test. Actually, it does: http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/246490-thumb/Power-draw-video-streaming2.png (Also it shows that the HTC 10 LCD is in fact less efficient than the S7’s AMOLED, because despite the increased power draw from the CPU the two get similar battery life)
The best camera MAY or MAY NOT be on the HTC 10, though I will admit it’s not on the S7 (my vote goes to the LG G5). The S7 pair face almost crippling noise reduction in low light combined with a slight yellow tinge in ALL lighting, but the 10 doesn’t face these issues. It does however take longer to focus, capture and process images. Say what you will about the S7 camera’s quality, but its speed is absolutely unbeatable: there are few cameras that match its speed, and for that alone, I’d take it over the 10’s camera, which offers diminishing returns in quality but has a less reliable launch gesture, less reliable and longer focus, longer capture time, a less well-designed UX (white text in manual mode is just a poor decision) and longer processing time. Same goes with the G5.
The curved screen is no longer a gimmick. It is a real feature that looks amazing, has some minor advantages in the UX, and reduces the width of the phone. Yes it does make it more prone to cracking, and I myself skipped it for my budget only goes so far, but it’s not a gimmick.
And that’s why my phone of choice is the dual SIM Exynos S7: SM-G930FD.
Wrong. The HTC 10 wrecks the S7. AMOLED screens do still suffer from burn in, both the navigation bars on my turbo 2 and my Nexus 6p are clearly burned in. Some AMOLEDs are cheaper to produce, not all. LCDs are less efficient and can suffer from light bleed, but at least are not trashed after 6 months of use. Each technology has their disadvantages and advantages.
The galaxy s7 series has all the hardware to be a very good phone, but it’s software is shîtware. Touchwiz may be improved from last year, as far as bloatware goes, but it is still buggy. I did a speed test between my DT2, Nexus 6P, and a display unit S7 at a best buy, and the S7 came in LAST. With an SD820. And I also had instances of lag opening Instagram, Samsungs web browser, among others. The Exynos 8890 is a much more efficient processor than the 820 and has a more powerful CPU, but the gap is minimized by smartphones that utilize power more efficiently, and by the same iSungArena article you linked, every single other SD820 phone uses power more efficiently than the GS7. The curved screen, no matter how much software is added to make it functional is a gimmick, and downright stupid. Camera quality>speed. EX: the nexus 6p has a very good camera (I have one) but is much slower than my turbo 2, which has a good camera but not as good in low light and a little more grainy than the nexus. Also, this moto z has a very good camera, but the autofocus is slow, which is not good. I don’t care about battery tests, the 10 would last longer in real-world usage. The S7 is, as I said, mediocre, but the 10 would beat it because it is a more power efficient phone with better software optimization. Every phone has its flaws, and everyone has different opinions as to what’s good. And with that, I have to go. Later
It’s hard to make sense out of stupid. The s7 series is definitely the best in the marketplace, hands down!!!
Well now it’s the Note 7 =)
Whatever your smoking I want some!!!
Best camera is the G5 surprisingly, Samsung phones’ battery life is mediocre due to touchwiz, and no phone is truly waterproof. It’s not like you are going to use your S7 careless, so it doesnt matter.
Say it again. The s7 edge may well be the best phone ever produced. Just read the reviews 75% of all reviews pick the edge over anything on the market!!!!
I disagree, last year was much worse just because of Qualcomm’s lackluster SoCs. LG, HTC, and Moto all completely refreshed their flagships and bring their own unique features this year, and the more variety the better. I honestly don’t see why the S7 is so special; I’ve never wanted/needed a waterproof phone and you couldn’t root it for the first 4 months, which is a clear dealbreaker for me.
After the S7 is when things get better. Until Samsung can get ALL the hardware correct and the software is when I’ll even consider getting an S series phone.
Easy for you to say since you didn’t buy anything and stuck to S7. I made the mistake of selling S7 Edge and buying G5 because I am weak! G5 is not a bad phone but after S7 Edge, it’s not even in the same league. I am using my backup Turbo 2 right now because I missed the battery life on Edge. Once the Note 7 comes out, I’ll try to pick another S7/Edge when people sell them for cheap after picking up Note 7. Samsung nailed it this year, IMHO!
I didn’t regret for a single moment for replacing my S7 edge with HTC 10. actually I’m more happy with it. but I’m also using Oneplus 3 which I think is better than S7 edge.. I bough Edge for its battery but battery was okay for me. Camera takes faster pictures but they are not so great to zoom. never liked Samsung post-processing.
Agreed. The S7 is tempting, though I’m still not a fan of TouchWiz no matter how much lighter it is now. Fingers crossed for this year’s Nexus phones.
Agreed. This is right up there with, I believe, 2011 and 2015 as a very mediocre year for Android.
Last hopes are the Nexus and Note 7 but if the rumor mill is correct, the Nexus line in particular is gonna be underwhelming. I am still kinda hoping that the LG V20 will be the sleeper hit of the year!
As far as these Moto sample images go, they are better than past Moto models but still not up to the level of Samsung/LG/Apple. That said, it looks like a lot of the issues could be fixed or at least tweaked via software.
Love the dogs!
its strange I’ve found S7 to be boring phone so far, I had S7 edge, HTC 10, Oneplus 3 but I was keeping my Nexus 6p too. IMO best phone for me is HTC 10, then Oneplus 3 is far better than S7. S7 edge looks good but annoying cuz of touch issues.
When lenovo’s camera’s can compete with samsung’s I will purchase one. The thing I don’t understand is every year they say much improved camera yet their cameras don’t compare with the best. The Z force may be a great phone but their photos barely make the top 10. It makes me wonder!!!
Every year lenovo/motorola states much improved camera. In order for me to purchase the Z force for a mere 720.00 dollars the camera would have to compete with my s7 edge. Well guess what it doesn’t. Now you invest the 720.00 and then purchase the mods. That’s way beyond the 1,000 dollar mark. And now the worst part it’s exclusive to Verizon. You got to be kidding, consumers aren’t that stupid. The Z force and mods are improved but that’s a pretty penny that I will not invest!!
As someone still holding on to their beleagured OG Moto X, I’m really looking forward to picking up a Moto Z. HDR/SmaychDR, this is leaps and bounds above what I’ve been dealing with the last few years. Whoopee!
Too many shots look like they are taken against the light instead of having the light behind the camera. The shots with the light source behind the camera. Look phenomenal. Camera looks to take nice shots with good light.
pretty good, but nothing to write home about
Very nice!!